At least one example embodiment relates to electrically heated aerosol-generating systems configured to generate an aerosol and associated devices, articles and methods. At least one example embodiment relates to an electrically heated aerosol-generating system having multiple heating elements.
One type of aerosol-generating system is an electrically operated handheld vapor-generating system. Known handheld electrically operated vapor-generating systems may include a device portion comprising a battery and control electronics, and a replaceable cartridge portion comprising a supply of aerosol-forming substrate, and an electrically operated vaporizer. A cartridge comprising both a supply of aerosol-forming substrate and a vaporizer is sometimes referred to as a ‘cartomizer’. The vaporizer may comprise a coil of heater wire wound around an elongate wick soaked in liquid aerosol-forming substrate. The cartridge portion often comprises not only the supply of aerosol-forming substrate and an electrically operated vaporizer, but also a mouthpiece, on which an adult vapor may draw.
Some aerosol-generating systems that include multiple heating elements have been proposed. For example, devices having multiple coil and wick elements have been proposed. Such devices may enable an increase in the amount of aerosol produced for each puff by the user on the device.
Efficient packing of device elements can be an important factor for aerosol generating devices. Such devices are commonly handheld and in many cases, a device having a small size may be desirable. The presence of multiple heating elements may undesirably increase the size of the device.
It would be desirable to provide an aerosol-generating system, such as a handheld electrically operated system, including multiple heating elements and that is configured to enhance packing efficiency. It would also be desirable for such systems to manage liquid and air flow in the system so as to seek to efficiently generate the aerosol.